TerraPay forms council with leading digital wallets to accelerate cross-border payments

By Gloria Methri

TerraPay has announced its collaboration with leading wallet operators around the world to establish the “Wallet Interoperability Council.” The council aims to leverage TerraPay’s technology to facilitate interconnection and interoperability in cross-border transactions.

Together, these operators serve millions of wallet users, spanning regions such as Bangladesh, Colombia, Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda. The founding members of this council include Airtel, bKash, MPESA, Nequi, and Sama Money.

The council aims to facilitate merchant payments, international remittances, and other use cases in cross-border transactions by interconnecting their diverse platforms and advancing global wallet interoperability. While wallets have predominantly served as local payment solutions, there is a demand for expansion into the global arena, and TerraPay technology aims to facilitate this expansion.

“This initiative is a significant and timely development – and Safaricom is excited to be a part of the Wallet Interoperability Council. This collaborative effort with TerraPay, is pioneering interoperability for global wallet payments and will accelerate our efforts in driving more value for our users for international money movement,” said Esther Masese Waititu, Chief Financial Services Officer, Safaricom PLC.

This open collaboration will bring together the expertise and resources to develop the conditions that ensure secure, efficient, and cost-effective cross-border wallet transactions for payments and money movement. TerraPay enables this initiative, providing both the technology infrastructure and handling clearing and settlement processes.

María del Pilar, Chief Product Officer at Nequi, said, “Collaborating among us, and with TerraPay, is a strategic move that will accelerate the adoption of digital wallets and financial platforms globally and enhance the overall cross-border payment experience. This is a team effort where we share and complement each other’s capabilities.”

“We are excited to be part of this effort and look forward to delivering tangible benefits to our customers and our shareholders. Until now, the only option to enable our users to use their wallets internationally was to secure bilateral agreements. Still, we can’t sign 100s of them efficiently, and that’s where this alliance brings value to all the participants,” said Ian Ferrao, CEO of Airtel Money.

Multiple studies show that by 2028, there will be more than 7 billion wallets processing around $16 trillion in volume. Multi-rail wallets are gaining leadership and prominence in ecommerce and face to face environments with cross-border payments playing a pivotal role in wallet expansion.

Ali Ahmmed, Chief Commercial Officer at bKash, said, “This collaboration will bring the best of our capabilities together and leverage each other’s reach and coverage to enhance our own consumer’s experience while keeping independence and adding significant utility to our wallet consumers for cross-border merchant payments. We believe that all participants will win with this council; however, our wallet consumers would be the real winners.”

“This initiative addresses real market challenges and has the potential to reshape perceptions around wallet usage for cross-border commerce, thus enabling easy access for interoperability within the council’s wallet participants globally. This is very exciting, and we look forward to driving this ahead,” said Sekou Kane Diallo, Deputy CEO and IT Manager at Sama Money.

This council is a first step to capitalize on these trends, offering needed interoperability and enhancing the user experience for millions of wallet users.

“TerraPay, connects today more than 100 digital wallets and we have been developing the technology to support interoperability since our inception, we recognize the immense potential of digital wallets in the global payment ecosystem. The formation of this council marks a significant milestone in our mission to provide innovative and inclusive financial solutions, collectively we will empower millions of individuals to participate in the global economy,” said Ambar Sur, CEO of TerraPay. “We have a huge respect and admiration for our founding partners, and we are committed to driving the next wave of wallet evolution, bringing the local user experience to the global scale.”